A chronicle of our family's transition to an off-grid, more self-sufficient and eco-friendlier lifestyle, sharing, wherever possible, helpful links and ideas, in order to ease anyone else's journey along this path

"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Sunday, 5 August 2012

Basically, you carefully cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin (where the balance of the stem remains). Then you scoop out the pip area, plus a bit of the flesh. Reserve both - the pips - for planting next season - and the flesh, which will go back into the hollow with the other vegetables.

After you have peeled and chopped up a selection of vegetables, add a bit of grated cheese (feta, cheddar, whatever) and a knob or two of butter, season, and stuff into the cavity you have created. Then pop the "lid" back on top.

We used chopped zuccini, yellow and red peppers,cauliflower, broccoli and sweet potatoes tostuff the pumpkin

Place the stuffed pumpkin into a casserole dish (to catch any juices) and pop in the oven. Allow the pumpkin to cook until it is tender when you insert a knife (which in the Dover took about 3 1/2 - 4 hours).

We cooked the stuffed pumpkin in the Dover stove,which is heated from the top - thus the "burnt"appearance round the opening

We ate it with a pot of fresh macaroni cheese - yummy - it didn't last long. :)

Now - all I need is to grow more pumpkins this year - many, many more. Eating home grown vegetables is completely addictive. I really feel for those who don't have the space or the confidence to do so.

14 comments:

Yum Dani - that sounds amazing. We felt pumpkin poor this season. Despite pumpkin vines everywhere, we only harvested 10 (with three more hidden in the grass that were hollowed out by clever rats for the seeds). Seven are sitting in front of me as I write and the others have already become pumpkin soup. But I'll have to try your recipe.Sandy

Yum! What a great use of a bunch of fresh veggies. Thank you for the idea, it looks delicious and best of all, it's totally healthy. You know what would be great too, is if you grew some more smaller type pumpkins, to make individual ones for each person. Of course as good as that looks, I think I could have put quite the dent in that big one all by myself! :-)

To get the best out of your garden, delay all sowing until after the new moon in October starting with herbs and roots like potatoes, turnips and carrots. http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/signs.htmlhttp://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/moon-phases/

I am working on a calander for the southern hemisphere that I will send to you if you're interested.

There is nothing to say you cannot start earlier but the premis is that you will get better yields if you plant at the right time. I guess if you start late you might have to starve for a while (or visit the local veggie market.)

Unfortunately, I do not know the name of the pumpkin, but it is a hard skinned variety. One of the locals told me that I should plant pumpkins in mid- to late August - I'm going to try that this year. I planted my pumpkins far too late last year... :)

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About me

Married for 36 years to RMan, mum to our two kids, Natasha and Richard, and Nana to my precious grandson, Mike, and new baby granddaughter, Hayley. If you would like to send me an e-mail, please do so to: dani at ecofootprint dot co dot za

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